Idea Transcript
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
‘Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’
Name: ................................................................................................................... Form: .................................................................................................................... English Teacher: ...................................................................................................
To Kill a Mockingbird copyright © Harper Lee
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To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
Part One Chapter 1 Make a list of all of the characters that are introduced in this chapter and indicate what their relationships to one another are.
What do we learn about Maycomb in this chapter?
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Write down what you know about Boo Radley and the Radley place in general.
Chapter 2 Describe Miss Caroline. children.
Try to explain why she is not immediately popular with the
What do we learn about the Cunningham family?
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What do we learn, in this chapter, about Harper Lee’s view of the education system of the time?
Chapter 3 What do we learn about Calpurnia’s attitude to other people in this chapter?
What do we learn about Burris in particular and the Ewells in general in this chapter?
?
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‘You never really understand another person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it’ What does this mean? Is it an easy thing to do?
What does this tell us about Atticus?
Chapter 4 What do the children find in the tree? Why do you think these objects were placed there? By whom?
e
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What is the point of the Boo Radley game?
Why is Scout keen to stop the games associated with the Radley house?
Chapter 5 What do we learn about Miss Maudie Atkinson?
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What more do we learn about Boo in this chapter?
‘The things they say about B – Mr Arthur’ are, according to Miss Maudie, ‘three-fourths colored folks and one-fourth Stephanie Crawford’. What does she mean by this?
Chapter 6 Why do the children choose that particular night to look in the window of the Radley place?
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What happens in the garden?
What else do we learn about Atticus and his relationship with his children in this chapter?
Chapter 7 What does Jem reveal about his breeches? Who do you think is responsible?
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What else do they find in the tree? What significance do you think these objects have: a) for the children? b) for the giver?
Why do you think Nathan Radley fills the hole in the tree? Why is Jem upset by this?
Chapter 8 What happens that convinces Scout that ‘the world’s endin’’?
Jem and Scout stand in front of the Radley place whilst Miss Maudie’s house is on fire. What happens to Scout that is strange, and who does Jem think is responsible for it?
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What more do we learn about Miss Maudie during this chapter?
Chapter 9 What is the cause of Scout’s outburst at the start of this chapter?
Why shouldn’t Atticus defend Tom Robinson?
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Why, then, does he choose to do so?
Why does Scout have mixed feelings about Christmas?
What does Uncle Jack mean when he says that Scout is ‘growing out of [her] pants’?
What does Aunt Alexandra think of Atticus?
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What does Scout reveal about her relationship with Atticus in this chapter?
Why do you think Atticus wants Scout to ‘hear every word he said’?
Chapter 10 Why does Scout consider Atticus to be feeble? Does her view change at all?
Why does Atticus say that ‘it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’?
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What is the significance of Tim Johnson in the novel?
Why does Atticus choose not to shoot?
Chapter 11 What do we learn of Mrs Dubose in this chapter?
Why does Jem ‘cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs Dubose owned’?
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Why does Mrs Dubose make Jem read to her?
When Atticus says ‘I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand’ what does he mean?
Now skim read your work on the first part of the novel. What lessons, from the most trivial to the most important, do the three children learn? (Make sure that you use quotations and give references to prove your points)
Scout
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Jem
Dill
How might these lessons help them to deal with the upcoming trial?
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Part Two Chapter 12 What is the significance of the First Purchase Church?
What new things does Scout learn about how the black people live?
Read the extract that follows, and then answer the questions: “Cal,” I asked, “why do you talk nigger-talk to the – to your folks when you know it’s not right?” “Well, in the first place I’m black – ” “That doesn’t mean you hafta talk that way when you know better,” said Jem. Calpurnia tilted her hat and scratched her head, then pressed her hat down carefully over her ears. “It’s right hard to say,” she said. “Suppose you and Scout talked coloured-folks’ talk at home – it’d be out of place, wouldn’t it? Now what if I talked white-folks’ talk at church, and with my neighbours? They’d think I was puttin’ on airs to beat Moses.” “But Cal, you know better,” I said. “It’s not necessary to tell all you know. It’s not ladylike – in the second place, folks don’t like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do. It aggravates ‘em. You’re not gonna change any of them by talkin’ right, they’ve got to want to learn themselves, and when they don’t want to learn there’s nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language.” To Kill a Mockingbird copyright © Harper Lee
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How does Harper Lee show, in this extract, that racial prejudice is ingrained in Maycomb society?
What further significance might the last sentence have?
Chapter 13 What does Atticus mean when he says ‘the summer’s going to be a hot one’?
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What does Aunt Alexandra think about the importance of family and breeding?
What does Atticus think about this? What evidence is there of this?
Chapter 14 Why does Aunt Alexandra think Atticus should sack Calpurnia? What response does Atticus give to this?
What more do we discover about Dill in this chapter?
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Chapter 15 What is ‘the nightmare [that] was upon us’?
Where does Atticus go on Sunday night? Why?
What is the mob’s purpose in being there?
What effect does Scout have on events at the jail?
RESEARCH TASK – find out about the Ku Klux Klan
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Chapter 16 Why are there so many different people passing the Finch household? Are they all going for the same reason?
What differences do you notice in Miss Maudie’s and Miss Stephanie’s attitudes to events?
What do you learn about Dolphus Raymond in this chapter?
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Chapter 17 Summarise Heck Tate’s evidence in bullet points:
Summarise Bob Ewell’s evidence in bullet points:
What kind of father do you think he is?
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How might a) the white people and b) the coloured people respond to Bob Ewell’s statement ‘I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella’?
Why does Atticus make Bob write his name? What does this contribute to the trial?
Chapter 18 Summarise Mayella’s evidence in bullet points:
In pairs, decide on up to fifteen key events of chapters 17 and 18 and make a list of them, along with relevant quotations. Decide what emotions characters would be feeling at the time of these events.
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On a piece of plain paper, draw a fortune line (see below for an example) to show the differing emotions of a) Scout and Jem; b) Mayella Ewell; c) Atticus; and d) Tom Robinson as events unfold. Emotions – positive ones above the line; negative ones below
Events (in the correct order) – shown by relevant quotations
How does Harper Lee create and sustain tension in this chapter and the preceding one?
Chapter 19 What was Tom Robinson’s relationship with Mayella?
Summarise Tom Robinson’s evidence in bullet points:
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Why did Tom run?
Why does Mr Gilmer call Tom ‘boy’? What does this tell us about him?
What is Tom’s mistake in saying ‘I felt right sorry for her’?
Why is Dill so upset?
Chapter 20 What has Dolphus Raymond got in his paper sack? Why?
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What, according to Atticus, is the crime that has been committed?
Atticus says that there is only one way in which all men are equal in America. What is it?
Chapter 21 Why are a) Cal and b) Aunt Alexandra upset?
What does Jem expect the verdict to be? Does Reverend Sykes agree with him? Why?
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What happens as Atticus leaves the courtroom? Why?
Chapter 22 What does Atticus mean when he says ‘This is their home, sister. We’ve made it this way for them, they might as well learn to cope with it’?
Why is their breakfast so large?
Why does Miss Maudie call the children over?
Why is Bob Ewell so angry with Atticus?
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Chapter 23 Why does Atticus respond as he does to Bob Ewell?
What has Tom Robinson been sentenced to? Why is this important?
Why don’t people like Miss Maudie and other Maycomb residents serve on juries?
Do you think it is true, as Aunt Alexandra says, that people should only mix with people of the same class? Why/why not?
What do you think of Jem’s theory about why Boo Radley never comes out?
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Chapter 24 What is the purpose of Aunt Alexandra’s tea party? What do you think of the Maycomb ladies?
What news does Atticus break?
Why does Atticus take Calpurnia with him?
What new insight do we get into Aunt Alexandra’s character?
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Chapter 25 How do the people of Maycomb react to the news of Tom’s death?
What does Scout mean when she says ‘in the secret courts of men’s hearts, Atticus had no case’?
Chapter 26 Miss Gates says of Americans ‘we don’t believe in persecuting anybody’. Why is this an odd claim for her to make?
Why is Jem so upset at the end of the chapter?
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Chapter 27 What three things happen that upset Aunt Alexandra? For each, explain in detail what happens.
Why does Bob Ewell bear grudges? Why against these people in particular?
Chapter 28 Why can’t Scout see what is going on as they walk home from the pageant?
How do they know that they’re being followed?
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What happens to them?
How does Jem get home? What is the verdict on his health when he gets there?
Who is the man in the corner?
Who do you think is responsible for the death of Bob Ewell?
Chapter 29 How was Scout’s life saved?
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What reason does Atticus give for the attack?
What reason does Heck Tate give for the attack?
Which do you consider to be more likely to be true? Why?
How does Scout know that the man in the corner is Boo Radley?
Chapter 30 Who does Atticus think killed Bob Ewell?
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Heck Tate disagrees. What is his explanation of events?
Why does Heck Tate want to protect Boo?
Chapter 31 Why does Scout escort Boo home?
Explain Scout’s thinking when she says:
Neighbours bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbour. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbours give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad. To Kill a Mockingbird copyright © Harper Lee
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Read the extract below which summarises all of the events of the novel.
Using your
summary chart, work out where the different sections (there are eight) fit, and explain the events that are being described in more detail:
Daylight … in my mind, the night faded.
It was daytime and the
neighbourhood was busy. Miss Stephanie Crawford crossed the street to tell the latest to Miss Rachel.
Miss Maudie bent over her azaleas.
It was
summertime, and two children scampered down the sidewalk towards a man approaching in the distance.
The man waved, and the children raced each
other to him. It was still summertime, and the children came closer. A boy trudged down the sidewalk dragging a fishing-pole behind him. A man stood waiting with his hands on his hips. Summertime, and his children played in the front yard with their friend, enacting a strange little drama of their own invention. It was fall, and his children fought on the sidewalk in front of Mrs Dubose’s. The boy helped his sister to her feet, and they made their way home. Fall, and his children trotted to and fro around the corner, the day’s woes and triumphs on their faces. They stopped at an oak tree, delighted, puzzled, apprehensive. Winter, and his children shivered at the front gate, silhouetted against a blazing house.
Winter, and a man walked into the street, dropped his
glasses and shot a dog. Summer, and he watched his children’s heart break. Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him. To Kill a Mockingbird copyright © Harper Lee
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As she stands on the Radley porch, Scout finally understands something that Atticus said to her earlier. What is it? How has she come to understand it?
‘Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’
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CHARACTER PROFILE Family background – what do we know about this character?
What is this character like as a person?
What does this character say about other people?
What happens to this character during the course of the novel? What impact do they have on events?
What do other people say about this character?
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Exam questions ☺
1. Write about the importance of some of the families in To Kill a Mockingbird. Write about:
☺
•
how different characters in the novel are affected by their families
•
how the writer presents different families and their importance.
2. How does Harper Lee show Atticus to be a good parent? Write about:
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•
what he does
•
what he says to Jem and Scout
•
how the writer makes you think of Atticus as a good parent.
3. What do you think Scout and Jem learn in To Kill a Mockingbird? Write about:
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•
what they learn
•
how they learn
•
how the writer shows the effects of their learning.
4. Write about two episodes in the novel which you find dramatic. Write about:
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what you think makes the episodes dramatic
•
how the writer makes the episodes seem dramatic.
5. How does Harper Lee bring out different aspects of Atticus? Write about:
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how Atticus’ dealings with different characters bring out different aspects of his character
•
how different events and situations bring out different aspects of Atticus
•
what the writer wants you to think about Atticus.
6. Jem changes in the course of the novel. How does Harper Lee show this? Write about: •
what he is like at the start and end of the novel
•
events that have an effect on him
•
people who have an effect on him
•
how the writer uses particular moments to show change.
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☺
7. How does Harper Lee make use of the trial of Tom Robinson to explore ideas about social and racial prejudice in the town of Maycomb?
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8. Who do you think is being educated in To Kill a Mockingbird, and how?
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9. How does Harper Lee use minor characters in To Kill a Mockingbird to explore some of the main concerns in the novel? Choose three of the following: Mrs Dubose
Dolphus Raymond
Miss Caroline
Mayella Ewell
Tim Johnson
Lula
Heck Tate
Grace Merriweather
Write about : •
why you chose these characters
•
the importance of what they say and do
•
how the writer uses them to explore her main concerns.
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10. Jem, Scout and Dill are all young people who learn from people and events around them. How does Harper Lee show them learning and developing?
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11. To what extent do you consider an understanding of Maycomb society to be crucial to our understanding of events in the novel as a whole?
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12. Explain what any one of these episodes contributes to the novel as a whole: • The shooting of the rabid dog • The visit to Cal’s church
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The children’s encounter with Mrs Dubose
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13. ‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win’ (Atticus). Show the relevance of this statement to the actions and characters of To Kill a Mockingbird.
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14. How far does Atticus put into practice his belief that ‘you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it’?
To Kill a Mockingbird copyright © Harper Lee
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